Steroid (Sex) Hormones
This article does NOT constitute medical advice.
Consult with your physician before making any changes to your medical plan.
Consult with your physician before making any changes to your medical plan.
A lot of people, both men and women, have difficulty with sex hormone regulation, and they can't understand why. This can come in the form of infertility for both men and women, menopause symptoms for women, PCOS for women, PMS symptoms for women, feminization/masculinization symptoms for men/women, and more. Often, people turn to hormone replacement therapies (HRT), but then realize that it either isn't helping or it is not addressing the root cause. That root cause may be creating other problems in other systems of the body while the HRT "band-aid" is used to hide symptoms. The root cause is disguised while it quietly creates other problems that may be more serious.
Let's start with some simple concepts that can have profound implications for healing your steroid hormone situation. Refer to the diagram below that shows the steroid hormone pathway. Note that the very first ingredient needed for steroid hormone production is cholesterol. We must differentiate between animal cholesterol and plant cholesterol which is called phytosterol. They are not the same molecule, and they do not work the same. Phytosterols are consumed in things like seed and vegetable oils as well as nuts and other plant foods. Phytosterols cannot be substituted for cholesterol in the human body, and this causes membranes, hormones and other cholesterol-dependent molecules to become fragile. Where do we get cholesterol? We either eat it in saturated animal fat or we make it in our liver. So, you have to ask yourself "Do I have enough cholesterol?" Metabolically unhealthy individuals may not have enough cholesterol, and they may not be using it properly. The liver is very, very busy doing a great many things, and it may not be able to keep up with cholesterol production if you are not eating enough. Just because a blood test shows that you have adequate amounts of cholesterol in the blood does not mean that it is being used to make steroid hormones. Afterall, if cholesterol was being used up to make hormones at a high rate then blood levels of cholesterol might be low, not high. It's difficult to know how cholesterol is working based on a cholesterol blood test. To ensure that you have enough cholesterol just eat lots of saturated fat as we discussed in the article Healing Chronic Disease. In addition, get your blood tested for markers that look at liver function and overall inflammation like ALT, AST, GGT, ferritin, hsCRP, fasting insulin. Again, refer to the article Healing Chronic Disease to look at these blood numbers. If your liver is generally healthy it will make the correct amount of cholesterol, and if you are eating lots of saturated fat you will have cholesterol from the food source as well.
As you can see on the above diagram, cholesterol is going to be used to make pregnenolone. If your body is in need of lots of pregnenolone then it will need lots of cholesterol, so put your body in a position where it has lots of cholesterol. Here is where things get interesting. Pregnenolone will be converted to progesterone, cortisol, DHEA, testosterone, and estrogen. Some off-balanced things can happen. One of the big ones that comes up repeatedly is with cortisol. Chronic stress signals your body to make lots of cortisol. But, think about that. If lots of cortisol is being made then lots of pregnenolone is being used up, and if lots of pregnenolone is being used up then there will not be much pregnenolone left over to make all the other hormones that we just mentioned from the diagram. What else signals the body to make lots of cortisol. It's raw blue light from things like cell phones, TV's, computers, LED lights, laptops, tablets, and more as was explained in the article Light, Electrons, and Water As Nutrition for Quantum Health. Raw blue light causes the POMC pathway to make lots of ACTH which forces production of cortisol as we discussed in that article. This then uses up more pregnenolone leaving even less now available to make the other hormones we mentioned. Perhaps you consume caffeine which again results in more cortisol production and less pregnenolone availability to make other hormones. Cortisol has a bad reputation, but is cortisol really the bad guy? No. It's your lifestyle and inputs that are the bad guy. You are forcing pregnenolone to go down the pathway to make cortisol thereby robbing the other steroid hormones of pregnenolone. If you change your lifestyle to lower your cortisol then you will have more pregnenolone available to make these other hormones like progesterone, DHEA, testosterone, and estrogen. Make the changes.
Zoom in on the diagram above between testosterone and estradiol (which is a form of estrogen). Notice what is required in order to convert testosterone to estradiol. It is an enzyme called aromatase. If aromatase is inhibited then not enough estradiol will be made and testosterone will be high. If aromatase is accelerated then too much estrogen is made and testosterone falls. Things work differently in women versus men. Women generally have problems with aromatase inhibition, while men generally have problems with aromatase acceleration. What inhibits aromatase in women? The biggest thing is high insulin in the blood that is caused by insulin resistance. The cells of the ovaries in women are the only cells in the body that do not become insulin resistant. So, if the cells of all other organs have become insulin resistant due to metabolic dysfunction then the pancreas will make more and more insulin to try to remove glucose from the blood, but since the ovaries are NOT insulin resistant they will be drowning in insulin which turns off aromatase. The woman will have low estrogen and high testosterone. PCOS is often a result. Insulin resistance is cause by mitochondrial sickness and by eating too many carbohydrates as discussed in the article Healing Chronic Disease. Stop eating so many carbohydrates. In addition, there are certain natural plant chemicals that inhibit aromatase. These include many plant chemicals that you probably eat like glycosides, polyphenols, phenols, flavanones, xanthanoids, alkaloids, vitamin E, and zinc. You will recall from the article Healing Chronic Disease that plants contain many, many natural toxins. Most plants should be not be eaten, especially if you are experiencing steroid hormone problems. Low estrogen is particularly problematic for women trying to get pregnant and for women experiencing bad symptoms during menopause. Men, on the other hand, will encounter problems if aromatase is accelerated thereby making too much estrogen and reducing testosterone. What will generally accelerate aromatase in men? Again, the biggest culprit is often raw blue light. If a man is up late playing video games every night expect his testosterone to be low and his estrogen to be high. In a man, low levels of melatonin (suppressed by blue light) will accelerate aromatase to high levels. Blue light lowers testosterone levels in men in this way, but also by driving up cortisol thereby leaving less pregnenolone to make testosterone in the first place.
Where is pregnenolone made? This is a very important question. It's made in the mitochondria. When is pregnenolone made? It is made in the morning from morning sunlight. It is imperative that the mitochondria are functioning properly in order to produce functional steroid hormones. How do we keep the mitochondria functioning properly? We discussed this extensively in Light, Electrons, and Water As Nutrition For Quantum Health and Healing Chronic Disease. The mitochondria are basically batteries. Voltage, called Redox Potential, is established by creating a proton gradient. Proper light exposure is imperative, and proper electron supply through correct food is imperative. Deuterium must be kept to a minimum. So, make sure to watch every sunrise for the rest of your life, get plenty of sun during the day, sleep in complete darkness, eliminate artificial sources of blue light and EMF, eat lots of saturated animal fat with moderate protein, and eliminate most sources of carbohydrates. There is more to building a plethora of healthy mitochondria, but these are the basics and are non-negotiable. You must do these things to build healthy steroid hormones. Mitochondria become very sick when too much deuterium is present. They cannot make ATP at Complex 5 of the ETC, and the cell then cannot repair properly. Pregnenolone cannot be made adequately. With improper light exposure the ETC cannot properly run Complex 1, 4, and 5. It's very complicated, but it's still so simple. Here is a list of the simple applications we've been discussing:
Applications:
1.) Eat more saturated animal fat to be sure you have adequate cholesterol to make pregnenolone.
2.) Stop eating most plants to reduce toxins that will interfere with the aromatase enzyme. Stop eating carbohydrates to reduce insulin as insulin will inhibit the aromatase enzyme.
3.) Watch every sunrise for the rest of your life. This is essential to provide the red and infrared light needed by the mitochondria. These steroid hormones are made in the morning from morning sunlight.
4.) Wear blue blocking glasses after sunset (or eliminate blue light after sunset whenever possible) in order to keep the production of cortisol low.
5.) Reduce exposure to blue light throughout the day. Put blue light filters on all screens. Get rid of all LED lights and bulbs. This will keep the production of cortisol low.
6.) Reduce your exposure to EMF throughout the day. This keeps the mitochondria functioning well.
7.) Get quality sleep as close to the rhythms of the sun as possible. Cells and mitochondria repair during sleep.
8.) Deplete deuterium. Deuterium will make the mitochondria sick.
9.) Use red/infrared light therapy. This will structure water properly in the body and provide mitochondria with a necessary light source.
10.) Ground with the earth on bare feet as often as possible. When it's too cold wear grounding shoes or an indoor grounding mat.
1.) Eat more saturated animal fat to be sure you have adequate cholesterol to make pregnenolone.
2.) Stop eating most plants to reduce toxins that will interfere with the aromatase enzyme. Stop eating carbohydrates to reduce insulin as insulin will inhibit the aromatase enzyme.
3.) Watch every sunrise for the rest of your life. This is essential to provide the red and infrared light needed by the mitochondria. These steroid hormones are made in the morning from morning sunlight.
4.) Wear blue blocking glasses after sunset (or eliminate blue light after sunset whenever possible) in order to keep the production of cortisol low.
5.) Reduce exposure to blue light throughout the day. Put blue light filters on all screens. Get rid of all LED lights and bulbs. This will keep the production of cortisol low.
6.) Reduce your exposure to EMF throughout the day. This keeps the mitochondria functioning well.
7.) Get quality sleep as close to the rhythms of the sun as possible. Cells and mitochondria repair during sleep.
8.) Deplete deuterium. Deuterium will make the mitochondria sick.
9.) Use red/infrared light therapy. This will structure water properly in the body and provide mitochondria with a necessary light source.
10.) Ground with the earth on bare feet as often as possible. When it's too cold wear grounding shoes or an indoor grounding mat.
This article does NOT constitute medical advice.
Consult with your physician before making any changes to your medical plan.
Consult with your physician before making any changes to your medical plan.
